‘Angry’ Klopp blames referee for Chelsea equaliser

Matt Stead

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed referee Michael Oliver refused to let him make a substitution prior to Chelsea’s crucial equaliser at Anfield.

Substitute Willian secured a 1-1 draw for the Premier League champions on Saturday when he lobbed Simon Mignolet from a tight angle in the 85th minute.

Liverpool had seemed on course for victory after taking the lead through former Chelsea forward Mohamed Salah after 65 minutes. Read 16 Conclusions, won’t you?

Klopp claimed he wanted to introduce Adam Lallana and change his team’s shape to protect the lead but said he was made to wait by Oliver.

The German told BT Sport: “I was angry because we wanted to change the system but the ref didn’t give us the opportunity. I don’t know what he thought in this moment, he told me something about taking too long, I don’t understand it.

“How can we take too long? We didn’t want to time waste, we wanted to change the system and that’s why I was angry.”

He added in his post-match press conference: “In my mind Ragnar Klavan would have been exactly in the position where Willian crossed the ball. Maybe we would have blocked the cross. So, it doesn’t feel too well when we couldn’t change the system.”